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Lot Essay
This superb, unique and richly mounted vase corresponds closely to no. 14 of the 1799 designs by hofciseleur Fredrik Ludvig Rung (d. 1810) and no. XIV in the 1805 priced catalogue of the Taillerie de Porphyre at Älvdalen, Sweden, which was illustrated in the 'Prix-Courant des différentes pièces de la Manufacture de Porphyre d'Elfdal en Suède, qui se vendant à Stockholm Sous l'adresse de la Direction de la Manufacture des Porphyres d'Elfdal'. Rung had trained in France and England before returning to Stockholm and establishing a workshop specializing in clocks, candelabra and mounts for porphyry objects in 1787. His 1799 designs depict various shapes of unmounted vases, tazze and boxes, which would be fitted with finely chased neo-classical mounts. Most of these were small-scale finials and handles, consisting of fruit and leaves, in some cases goat or bearded masks.
The mounts of the present vase, a prominent lion mask flanked by fringed drapery, were probably executed by Rung or one of his contemporaries. They recall, for instance, the mounts on the so-called Sèvres 'vase a monter' which first occur in the glaze kiln records for 1764, but they must have been in production slightly earlier. They are representative of the bold ‘gout a la grecque’ of the late 1750s / early 1760s which in turn was inspired by the decorative vocabulary of the Louis XIV period. One example of this model, in green porcelain, was originally in the collection of Madame de Pompadour and described in the probate inventory taken upon her death in 1764. It is signed 'DULAC.MD.RÜE ST.HONNORÉ.INVENISTE (L. Roth and C. le Corbeiller, French Eighteenth-Century Porcelain et the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford 2000, p. 121). The signature refers to the marchand-galantier-parfumeur Jean Dulac (1704-1786), who was appointed marchand priviligié du Roi in 1753 and styled himself marchand bijoutier. It is still unclear which exact source of inspiration was used by Swedish bronze-smith responsible for the execution of present vase. Sevres porcelain of a slightly later date than the so-called ‘Dulac’ model was present in the Swedish Royal collections in the late 18th Century such as the apple green vases dated 1782, given by Louis XVI to Gustav III in 1784. The mounts on the latter, however, were conceived in a further evolved neo-classical spirit and include ram’s masks and fruit garlands (Le Soleil et l’Etoile du Nord, exh. cat. Paris, 1994, p. 335, fig. 508). An alternative source of inspiration could have been the printed designs for vases, such as those conceived by Jean-Francois de Neufforge (d.1791) circa 1755-’58 or those by Joseph Marie Vien (d. 1809), entitled Suite de Vases of 1760; both include extensive series of vases with drapery and garlands forming handles (S. Erisken, Early Neo-Classicism, London, 1974, figs. 310-318, 323).
The mounts of the present vase, a prominent lion mask flanked by fringed drapery, were probably executed by Rung or one of his contemporaries. They recall, for instance, the mounts on the so-called Sèvres 'vase a monter' which first occur in the glaze kiln records for 1764, but they must have been in production slightly earlier. They are representative of the bold ‘gout a la grecque’ of the late 1750s / early 1760s which in turn was inspired by the decorative vocabulary of the Louis XIV period. One example of this model, in green porcelain, was originally in the collection of Madame de Pompadour and described in the probate inventory taken upon her death in 1764. It is signed 'DULAC.MD.RÜE ST.HONNORÉ.INVENISTE (L. Roth and C. le Corbeiller, French Eighteenth-Century Porcelain et the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford 2000, p. 121). The signature refers to the marchand-galantier-parfumeur Jean Dulac (1704-1786), who was appointed marchand priviligié du Roi in 1753 and styled himself marchand bijoutier. It is still unclear which exact source of inspiration was used by Swedish bronze-smith responsible for the execution of present vase. Sevres porcelain of a slightly later date than the so-called ‘Dulac’ model was present in the Swedish Royal collections in the late 18th Century such as the apple green vases dated 1782, given by Louis XVI to Gustav III in 1784. The mounts on the latter, however, were conceived in a further evolved neo-classical spirit and include ram’s masks and fruit garlands (Le Soleil et l’Etoile du Nord, exh. cat. Paris, 1994, p. 335, fig. 508). An alternative source of inspiration could have been the printed designs for vases, such as those conceived by Jean-Francois de Neufforge (d.1791) circa 1755-’58 or those by Joseph Marie Vien (d. 1809), entitled Suite de Vases of 1760; both include extensive series of vases with drapery and garlands forming handles (S. Erisken, Early Neo-Classicism, London, 1974, figs. 310-318, 323).